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Tough Nuts for Arminians to Crack |
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Elder J.B. Hardy |
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Tough Nuts for Arminians to Crack |
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Elder J.B. Hardy |
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FREE AGENCY 1. Are all men both saint and sinner free agents? If so, is not the sinner as free as the saint? 2. If a sinner cannot come to Christ of his own free will, is he a free agent? 3. If all sinners possess will and power to come to Christ, why did Christ say (John 6:44), "No man can come unto Me except the Father which hath sent Me draw him?" 4. Has any man the power to refuse to come to Christ when the Father draws him? 5. Are those characters free agents that shall do wickedly and none of them shall understand? (Dan. 12:10) 6. Were those free agents that Peter said (H Peter 2:12), were made to be taken and destroyed, and should utterly perish? 7. Were those free agents who were before of old ordained to this condemnation? (Jude 4.) 8. Are those free agents that Jesus says (John 5:25), shall hear, and they that hear shall live? 9. Are those free agents of whom God says (Heb. 8:10-11), "I will be to them a God and they shall be to Me a people; and they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying know the Lord?" 10. Could not a free agent believe, notwithstanding Jesus said, (Acts 13:41), "I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you?" 11. Would not the doctrine of free agency make man the cause of his own salvation? 12. Can man be a free agent and God be a sovereign? 13. Is any one free that is a servant? 14. Are not all men the servants of sin until they are made free by the Son? (John 8:34-36.) 15. Is the sinner free to wig, free to choose, free to love, free to become a Christian, or, free to let it all alone? 16. If we are saved by our free will, is it not a fact that the only difference between the saved and the lost is that the saved made a better use of their will? 17. Has one the power over his will to incline it to good or to evil? 18. How many different effects can arise from the same cause? 19. Are we made free from sin before we become servants of God, or do we have to serve Him in order to be made free from sin? 20. Do we have to obey God in order to become a child of God? 21. Does a child have to obey its parents in order to become a child of its parents? 22. If God only wills to save those that are willing to be saved, is not God's will dependent upon man's will? 23. Does God work all things after the counsel of His own will (Ephe- 1:1 1), or does He work some things after the will of the sinner? 24. Is the unchangeable God (Mal. 3:6), changed by the will of the sinner? 25. Does salvation or damnation depend upon the use that a man makes of his will? 26. Does a sinner have the will to do God's will prior to being born again? If so, is his will changed in the spiritual birth? 27. Has man the power to resist God and the devil at the same time? 28. If man's will is controlled by the influence of another, is it free? 29. Does God begin the work of grace in the sinner independently, or is the sinners will first consulted? 30. Is the wig and act of the sinner changed before God works in him to will and to do of his good pleasure? (Phn. 2:13) 31. Does Christ have to get the consent of the sinner before He can save him?
HOW ARE SINNERS SAVED? 32. Does the sinner have to accept Christ in order to be saved, and reject Him to be lost? If so, is not Christ limited in the work of salvation to what the sinner sees fit to do? 33. Is belief a condition of salvation, or is it an evidence of salvation? 34. Do we have to believe in order to be saved or is the believer already in possession of eternal life? 35. Did Paul tell the truth when he said sinners are saved by grace and not of works (Ephe. 2:8-9)? If so, why do men preach otherwise? 36. If Christ saves sinners by grace (Ephe. 2:8), did He not know from eternity whom He would save by grace? 37. If sinners are saved by grace alone (Ephe. 2:8), why such ado about sending missionaries to save the heathens? 38. Does Christ save sinners or do sinners save themselves, or is salvation a partnership work? 39. If sinners are saved otherwise than by grace alone, Will some one please cite the chapter and verse which says so? 40. If God purposed to save all men and changes not, will not all be saved? If not, why not? 41. If God works all things after the counsel of His own will (Ephe. 1: I 1), was it His will to save those that will not be saved? 42. If Christ came to save sinners and did not do it (I Tim. 1:15), is not Christ a failure? 43. If Christ is a failure, upon what does the Christian's hope depend? 44. If grace is favor bestowed upon an unworthy object, does not grace stop where worthiness begins? 45. If the salvation of sinners depends upon their acts, is it not their bad acts, as there are none that doeth good? (Rom. 3:12) 46. Can a sinner dead in sin act in a spiritual capacity previous to being quickened by the Spirit? (Ephe. 2:1) 47. When a sinner is quickened by the spirit, is he not in possession of eternal life? 48. Is there any intermediate space between life and death? 49. Do we have to act in order to live, or does life always precede action? 50. Did Christ come to seek and to save sinners (Luke 19:10), or to save those that seek Him? 51. If sinners have to seek God in order to be saved, and none seek Him (Rom. 3:1 1), will any be saved? 52. Does not the saving of sinners come before the calling, and does not God do both, and are we either saved or called according to our works? (II Tim. 1:9) 53. If God saves sinners according to His own purpose (H Tim. 1:9), is not the plan of salvation as old as God's purpose? 54. If Christ came to save sinners (I Tim. 1:15), and finished the work (John 19:30), what is left for the preachers and sinners to do in the work of salvation? 55. Were the different gifts for the salvation of sinners, or for the edifying of the body of Christ? (Ephe. 4:11-12) 56. Could there be an effect without a cause? 57. Is the first cause of salvation the work of God (Phil. 1:6), or the work of the sinner? 58. Do good works produce the Spirit, or does the Spirit produce good works? 59. If Christ only made salvation possible and the sinner makes it sure by his acts, which deserves the more praise? 60. If belief a condition of salvation, is it not a cause of salvation? 61. Is belief a voluntary act of the creature, or do we believe according to the working of God's mighty power? (Ephe. 1: 1 9) 62. Does not the word convert mean to change? 63. If you do not believe a thing, do you not have to be converted before you can believe it? If so, does not conversion come before belief? 64. Is the work of man in any sense the cause of the work of the Spirit in the heart? 65. If God is certain, can the destiny of any man be uncertain? 66. Is the proclamation of the gospel the means of salvation? If so, can sinners be saved unless the means are used? 67. Can we use the means without works? If not, is salvation by grace and not of works? (Ephe. 2:9) 68. If means must be used in order to salvation, are not the means the cause of salvation? 69. Can anything be the means of doing a thing it does not do? 70. Does a means of doing a thing always accomplish the end when used? If not, does it not cease to be a means? 71. If the preaching of the gospel is the means of salvation, why is it foolishness and a stumbling block to the unbeliever? 72. Does the preaching of the gospel save those that it is foolishness to , or those it is power and wisdom to? 73. Will a sinner accept a proposition while it is foolishness to him? 74. If it took Christ and what He did to save sinners, will a proclamation of that fact reach their case? 75. If sinners are sent to hell for rejecting the gospel, would it not have been better for sinners if the gospel had not been preached? 76. If Christ could not damn sinners without giving them a chance for heaven, is it not a pity that He ever gave them a chance? 77. Would not a chance system damn more souls than it would save? 78. If God gives every body a chance for heaven, does He not call every body? 79. Are not the called justified and glorified? (Rom. 8:30) 80. Are we not sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Christ Jesus before we are called? (Jude 1) 81. Can Christ be an equal Saviour of all the race of man and a special Saviour of part of the race? (I Tim. 4: 1 0) 82. Can we know Christ except by revelation? (Matt. 11:27) 83. Can flesh and blood reveal Christ to a sinner? (Matt. 16:17) 84. Is not the Spiritual birth called in the Bible a creation? (Ephe. 2:10) 85. Can man create or can he assist the Lord in the least in creation? 86. Does not God work as independently in salvation as in creation? 87. Is the reward reckoned of grace to him that worketh, or to him that worketh not? (Rom. 4:4) 88. Is it work or faith that is counted for righteousness? (Rom. 4:5) 89. Is it in man that walketh to direct his steps? (Jer. 10:23) 90. Will not a sinner go the way the strongest influence is brought to bear on his mind? 91. If the Lord desires the salvation of all men and the devil the damnation of all; will not the one get them that can bring the strongest influence to bear upon their mind? 92. Can we confess with the mouth before we believe with the heart? (Rom. 10:10) 93. Can we believe on Christ before the heart is changed? If so, and all believers are saved, what is the necessity of the change of heart? 94. Is belief the cause of salvation, or is salvation the cause of belief? (John 5:24) 95. If there was grace given us in Christ before the world began (11 Tim. 1:9), was not our salvation purposed of God before the world began? 96. If we work for a thing, is it a gift, or do we make it a debt? (Rom. 4:4) 97. Did God either purpose or try to save those that go to hell? 98. Did God ever try to do anything? 99. Is not our nature such that if we had the power, we would save all men? 100. Is not our nature such that if we had the power, we would deliver the millions of suffering humanity that are in the world; and has not God the power and does not do it? 101. Would parents see their children put to death in the cruel ways God's children have been if they had the power to prevent it, and yet is not God's love greater than ours? 102. Is not the plan of salvation perfect? 103. If God's work is perfect (Deut- 32:14), can we add anything to it? 104. Is anything perfect that is performed by man? 105. If God works all things after the counsel of His will (Ephe. 1:11), and it is His will that all men be saved, will any be lost? 106. Do we obtain salvation by our obedience, or by the appointment of God? (I Thes. 5:9) 107. If God chose His people unto salvation from the beginning (Thes. 2:13), what do they have to do with the choice? 108. Does a goat have to believe on Christ in order to become a sheep, or do they believe not because they are not sheep? (John 10:26) 109. Is not Christ under obligation to the Father to give eternal life to as many as the Father gave Him? (John 17:2) 110. Is Christ under obligation to sinners to save them? 111. Can sinners by their obedience bring Christ under obligation to save them? 112. Are the Scriptures the truth if they are not fulfilled? 113. Would the Scriptures have been fulfilled if the son of perdition had not been lost? (John 17:12) 114. Is it possible for all men to be saved and the Scriptures be the truth, if some had to be lost in order to the fulfillment of the Scriptures? 115. If God knows all things (I John 3:20), does He not know who will be saved and who lost? 116. Can anything be different from the way God knew it would be? 117. If Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not (John 6:64), did He not know from the beginning who they were that would believe? 118. If the Lord can do everything (Job 42:2), can He not save a sinner without help? 119. Is Christ our Saviour before He saves us? 120. Do we have to believe on Christ before He will save us? If so, do we have to believe He is our Saviour? 121. If we believe that Christ is our Saviour when He is not, do we not believe a lie? 122. Does not every one that denies eternal life being the gift of God make God a liar? 123. Is a person required to obey anything before being born in order to be born? 124. Is there not a begetting and a travail before we are born of God? 125. Does the thing begotten have anything to do with the begetting, the travail or the birth? If so, what? 126. Does a natural work produce a spiritual birth? If not, does the natural man have anything to perform in order to the spiritual birth? 127. Did Christ ever command a sinner to be born again? 128. Does it take an external work to change the heart from natural to spiritual? 129. Can a birth be conditional upon the part of the thing to be born? 130. Is obedience required before or after the birth? 131. If the gifts and calling of God are without repentance (Rom. 11:29). do we have to repent in order to receive them? 132. If Christ gives repentance (Acts 5:31). what do we have to do in order to receive the gift? 133. Was Christ exalted a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance and remission of sin to any but Israel? (Acts 5:31) 134. Is repentance the act of the creature or the gift of God? (Acts 5:31) 135. If whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Rom. 14:23). and we pray for the salvation of all men without faith to believe all will be saved, do we not commit sin? 136. Does godly sorrow ever fail to work repentance unto salvation? (1 Cor. 7:10) 137. Are the Arminians as confident as Paul was that when a good work is begun in you it will be performed until the day of Jesus Christ? (Phil. 1:6) 138. If the object in making Christ to be sin for us was to make us the righteousness of God in Him (II Cor. 5:21), are we not as certain to be made the righteousness of God as Christ was made to be sin for us? 139. Is faith the act of the creature, or the fruit of the spirit? (Gal. 5:22) 140. If faith is the fruit of the spirit, can it be a condition to be complied with in order to receive the spirit? 141. Is not Christ the author and finisher of our faith? (Heb. 12:2) 142. Have all men faith? (11 Thes. 3:2) 143. Can we please God without faith? (Heb. 11:6) 144. Does the preached word profit any except those that have faith? (Heb. 4:2) 145. If temperance is the fruit of the spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), do those that have the spirit need temperance societies? 146. If belief comes by the will or choice of man, why does he ever believe that which he had rather not believe? 147. If belief is the cause of election, and all believers are in possession of eternal life (John 5:24), what are we elected to? 148. Are we elected according to our works, or according to God's foreknowledge? 149. If man by his works procure his own election, is it not of works instead of an election of grace? (Rom. 11:5) 150. If the choice before the foundation of the world (Ephe. 1:4), embraced only the twelve apostles, why did Paul include himself in the number chosen? 151. Did God ever purpose in time to do anything, or is all He does according to His eternal purpose? (Ephe. 3:1 1) 152. If God is in one mind (Job 23:13), did He not have a mind in eternity to do everything that He does in time?
APOSTASY 153. If what God doeth shall be forever (Eccle. 3:14), did He convert those who apostatize? 154. If it is not the will of the Father that one of these little ones should perish (Matt.18:14), will the Father's will be done? 155. If the Lord Knew before He converted a sinner that he would fall from grace and go to hell, why did He convert him? 156. Does the dog turning to his vomit and the sow to her wallowing prove apostasy? 157. Were the children of God ever known by the appellation of dog or sow? 158. How can a child cease to be the child of its parents? 159. Can a child be born and then be unborn? 160. Will all Israel be saved (Rom. 11:26), if a part of Israel apostatize and are lost? 161. Can we fall away and be renewed again? (Heb. 6:4-6) 162. If God can cease to love a saint on earth, can He not do the same in heaven? 163. If one saint can apostatize and be lost, would not all be lost if heaven was not secured to them by their works. 164. If the Christian lives because Christ lives (John 14:19), will the life of the Christian cease while Christ lives? 165. Did Jesus tell the truth when He said, "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish?" (John 10:28) 166. If the preachers say that they can and do perish whom Jesus says shall never perish, which shall we believe? Jesus or the preachers? 167. If the Lord made all things for Himself (Prov. 16:4), will not all things answer the purpose for which He made them? 168. Did God ever do any thing in vain? 169. If God from the foundation of the world prepared a kingdom in heaven for all of the blessed of the Father (Matt. 25:34), and one falls to get there, who will inhabit it? 170. Will any enter in except those for whom the kingdom was prepared from the foundation of the world? (Matt. 25; 34-46) 171. Why were the names of some persons written in the book of life from the foundation of the world and others were not? (Rev. 17:8) 172. Why was one of Abraham's sons born after the flesh and another by promise? (Gal. 4:22-23) 173. If the Lord's portion is His people (Deut. 32:9), will He get His portion and will He take any more? 174. Does not God bless, choose, and cause men to approach unto Him? (Psa. 65:4) 175. Does belief come by the will or choice of man, or through the force of evidence? 176. If divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness (II Pet. 1:3), does anything pertaining to Life and godliness depend upon man? 177. If salvation depends upon the volition of human will, how can the idiot be saved? 178. If man is excused or saved on account of ignorance, why send missionaries to enlighten the heathen? 179. Does the Son quicken whom He will (John 5:2 1), or,, who will let Him? 180. Does a sinner have to mourn in order to be blessed, or is the mourner already blessed? (Matt. 5:4) 181. If Jesus saves His people according to the testimony of the angel (Matt. 1:21), are they not His before He saves them? 182. Were they not given to Christ by the Father (John 10:29), before they were saved or redeemed? 183. If Jews and Gentiles are all under sin (Rom. 3:9), are not infants born under sin, or are they neither Jews nor Gentiles when they are born? 184. If the gospel was preached to every creature (Col. 1:23), to the extent of the command, why spend more than one hundred million dollars annually to accomplish that end? 185. Will not a true witness testify to the truth without money and without price? 186. When the gospel was preached to the poor (Matt. 11:5), was it not done without money? 187. If money is the motive for preaching, is not the preaching apt to be done in a way to please the most people? 188. If we seek to please men, are we the servants of Christ? (Gal. 1:10) 189. Does not the world believe what the Arminian preachers preach? 190. Did the world believe what the apostles preached? 191. If the Arminians preach the truth and the unconverted believe it, why do they want them converted? 192. If convert means to change and sinners believe the truth and you convert them, will they believe the truth then? 193. Cannot the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots just as easily as those can do good who are accustomed to do evil? (Jer. 13:23) 194. Is a work acceptable with God except it be "righteous work"? 195. Can any perform a righteous work except they be born of God? (I John 2:29) 196. Does a sinner have to accept spiritual life in order to live spiritually? 197. Did Adam have to accept natural life in order to live naturally? 198. Does a sinner have to bear good fruit in order to be made alive spiritually? 199. If a tree begins to bear fruit, is it an evidence that it will be alive or is it evident that it is already alive? 200. Do we have to hunger and thirst after righteousness in order to become righteous? 201. Does a person hunger and thirst after that which nourishes a life that he does not live, or that which nourishes the life that he does live? 202. Do we not have to live a spiritual life before we can hunger and thirst after spiritual things? 203. Does the seed sown prepare the ground, or does the seed have to fall into good ground in order to bring forth fruit? (Matt. 13:23) 204. Is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit a sovereign? If so, how can the sinner be a co- willer or coworker in the work of regeneration? 205. If the carnal mind is enmity against God (Rom. 8:7), are not the works of the carnally minded the same? 206. Can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit (Matt. 7:18), or must the tree first be made good? 207. If a corrupt tree can bring forth both evil and good fruit without being changed, how can we know a tree by its fruit? (Matt. 7:16) 208. Is heaven assured to man in consequence of the work of man or the work of Christ? 209. If Christ has done all that He can do and sinners are not saved, is Christ the Saviour of sinners? 210. Does a sinner's salvation depend upon his obedience to either law or gospel? 211. Will a sinner come to Christ while he is destitute of the love of God? (John 5:40-42) 212. Is not every one that loveth born of God? (I John 4:7) 213. Is not God's love everlasting (Jer. 31:3), and is not His power equal to His love? 214. If it is God's will to save all men, is not His love and power equal to His will? 215. Did not God love us when we did not love Him? (I John 4:10) 216. Did not God love us when we were dead in sins, and did He not quicken us because of that love? (Ephe. 2:4-5) 217. Is not God's love to us the cause of our love to Him (I John 4:19)? If so, will He not cause every one to love Him that He loves? 218. If we love God because He first loved us, will the effect cease as long as the cause exists? 219. If whosoever is born of God cannot sin (I John 3:9), how can they apostatize and be finally lost; or can one apostatize without sinning?
ELECTION AND THE ATONEMENT 220. Did not Jesus love us before He washed us from our sins in His own blood? (Rev.1:5) 221. Is not redemption the fruit of God's love? (Isa. 63:9) 222. Does not the word atone mean "at one"? 223. Is not He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified all of one? (Heb. 2:11) 224. Will any be lost that are with Christ? 225. If God loved His people as He loved Christ, and He loved Christ before the foundation of the world (John 17:23-24), did He not love His people before the foundation of the world? 226. If God loved sinners when they were dead in sins, will His love ever cease toward those who refuse to repent and obey the gospel? 227. If the goodness of God leadeth to repentance (Rom. 2:4), will not His goodness lead all to repentance that are embraced in His eternal love? 228. If God changes not (Mal. 3:6), did He not love every object in eternity that He loves now or ever will love? 229. Are we by the blood of Christ redeemed to God (Rev- 5:9), or just part of the way? 230. If all men are redeemed to God, how can any of them get away from Him if they are kept by His power? (I Pet. 1:5) 231. If Christ died for all men and all men are not saved, did not Christ die in vain? 232. If Christ died for all men and rose for their justification, are not all justified? 233. If the justified are lost, who will be saved? 234. Will not all be saved that are justified? (Rom. 5:9) 235. Did Christ give Himself for the world or for the church? (Ephe. 5:25) 236. Did Christ give Himself for the church to give it a chance for heaven, or that it should be holy? (Ephe. 5:27) 237. Did not Christ love the church before He gave Himself for it? (Ephe. 5:25) 238. Are not some persons greater sinners than others? If so, is not the greater sinner forgiven the most (Luke 7:41-47)? If so, is not the atonement personal? 239. If Christ did not know every man and every act of man, how could He atone for the sins of those who lived a thousand years after His death? 240. Was the atonement made for man before he believed, or is it made for him after he believes? 241. Did Christ die for the godly, or for the ungodly? (Rom. 5:6) 242. Did not Christ redeem His people from all iniquity? (Titus 2:14) 243. If Christ has redeemed all men from all iniquity, for what does God send a man to hell? 244. Is a sinner sent to hell for the same sins for which Christ died? 245. Did Christ atone for all of the sins of all men and then say there were some sins which should not be forgiven unto men? (Matt. 12:31) 246. Do not all have forgiveness of sins who have redemption through the blood of Christ? (Ephe- 1:7) 247. Will God punish man after all his sins are forgiven? 248. Did Christ lay down His life for the goats, or the sheep? (John 10:15) 249. Did Christ die for those that were in hell at the time He died and give them a chance for heaven? 250. Why are not all Universalists who believe that Christ died alike for all men? 251. Does the Bible positively teach that all men will not be saved (Matt. 25:46)? If so, does it teach the possibility of all being saved? 252. If the Lord redeemed His people (Luke 1:68), were they not His before He redeemed them? 253. If we become righteous by obedience to a law, is there such a thing as imputed righteousness. 254. Does not God impute righteousness without works? (Rom. 4:6) 255. Can sinners satisfy justice by their obedience? 256. Are sinners made righteous by their obedience, or by the obedience of Christ? (Rom. 5:19) 257. If a man was redeemed and placed back as he was before he sinned, is he a sinner? 258. Was the world that God loved (John 3:16), and the world that wondered after the beast (Rev. 13:3), the same world? 259. Did not all wonder after the beast whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world? (Rev. 17:8) 260. Does the whole world that lieth in wickedness include those that are of God? (I John 5:19)? 261. Were those that Christ said should weep and lament included in the world which he said should rejoice? (John 16:20) 262. Did not Christ say, "I pray for them, I pray not for the world?" (John 17:9) 263. If Christ prayed for His people and did not pray for the world, were they included with the world under consideration? 264. Were not all of the component parts of man taken from the dust of the earth? 265. When man became a living soul, was he a mortal or an immortal soul? 266. When man transgressed the Law of God, did he die in whole or only in part? 267. If man only died in part in the transgression, would the Bible be the truth when it says there is no soundness in him? (Isa. 1:5-6) 268. Is man in possession of a divine principle prior to the new birth? If so, can he be a natural man? 269. Did not Paul say the first man was of the earth earthy? (I Cor. 15:47) 270. Is not the damnation of sinners just? 271. Are we damned for unbelief? 272. Is unbelief sin? 273. Is unbelief a violation of law? If so, what law? 274. Is unbelief an act, a condition, or the effect of a principle? 275. Is man damned for an act, or a principle? 276. Did not God put the principle in man which he had before the violation of the law? 277. Did the violation of the law put a new principle in man? 278. Does the act of man change his principle, or does he act from principle? 279. Is not predestination a Bible truth? 280. Is not predestination a purpose previous to the performance of an act? 281. Does not every sane person purpose previous to acting? If so, is not every sane person a predestinarian? 282. Is not God a predestinarian? (Gen. 1:26) 283. Does not God save sinners according to predestination? (II Tim. 1:9) 284. Is not the same man resurrected that sinned in Adam, that was redeemed by Christ, born of corruptible seed, born of incorruptible seed and dies corporally.
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